Spaulding’s Value on the Rise for Dana Hills’ Baseball Team : High School: After making transition from long reliever to starter, the senior is county’s top pitcher with 10-0 record.

John Spaulding didn’t realize how valuable a baseball card could become when his father bought him a Topps 1968 Nolan Ryan rookie card for $20 six years ago.

Spaulding was a Little League pitcher who idolized Ryan. He marveled at Ryan’s 95-m.p.h fastball and counted his strikeouts.

Spaulding has grown up, but his childhood idol continues to rewrite the record books.

When Spaulding developed into a varsity pitcher for Dana Hills High School last year as a junior, Ryan defied his age by throwing a sixth no-hitter.

When Spaulding threw a perfect game in a 6-0 victory against Mission Viejo on April 19, Ryan followed with his seventh no-hitter May 1 against Toronto.

“Funny, but my dad never gave me the card,” Spaulding said. “He’s been saving it all these years. I think he knew that someday it was going to become a valuable card.”

Ryan’s rookie card currently is worth about $1,500. Spaulding’s value to Dana Hills’ baseball team has also increased significantly since he made the transition from long reliever as a junior to the ace starter on the pitching staff as a senior.

Spaulding (10-0) is the county’s top pitcher. He has allowed only 12 earned runs in 65 innings for a 1.29 earned-run average. He helped Dana Hills win its first South Coast League title in 11 years, landing the team a spot in the Southern Section 4-A division playoffs beginning Friday.

Spaulding was 3-2 as a junior. An undefeated season as a senior was the furthest thing from his mind.

“I didn’t expect to do this well, honestly,” he said. “I thought I was going to have a good year, and the team would do well. But to go undefeated and win the league, that was more than I had ever imagined.

“We had a good summer and lost only four games. I got off to a good start, beating El Dorado in the Loara Tournament. It was a big confidence builder. But then we lost three of four games in league, and I don’t think anybody knew what to expect.”

Dana Hills was struggling with a 1-3 league record when Spaulding won games against Capistrano Valley and Irvine in the same week. The Dolphins went on to win nine consecutive league games and finish 11-4 in one of Orange County’s toughest leagues.

Dana Hills’ last league title came in 1980.

As Spaulding said, “We hadn’t won since disco. It felt good to win one for Coach (Bob) Canary. You can see how it means so much more to him than any of the players. He waited 11 years for this title.”

Spaulding, 6-feet and 165 pounds, is a finesse pitcher who relies on a good defense and the ability to outsmart hitters. He has struck out only 40 batters in 65 innings. He said he never felt comfortable pitching as a spot-starter and long reliever as a junior, but worked diligently with assistant Bob Ferguson during the off-season, improving his fastball and curve.

“I’m not a strikeout pitcher,” he said. “I’d rather throw three pitches and get three ground-ball outs than strike out three guys.”

Spaulding’s control was never better than in his perfect game against Mission Viejo. He threw 77 pitches that day, and 60 were strikes. Only one opposing batter managed to work the count to 3-2.

“I had thrown a couple of no-hitters in Little League, but never a perfect game,” Spaulding said. “It was a great time for a week or two after the perfect game, until I got grounded for getting home late one night.”

Despite his exploits on the field, Spaulding has failed to receive a college scholarship offer for next year. He has maintained a 3.4 grade-point average at Dana Hills and has been accepted at the University of California and Claremont McKenna College.

“Academics were always the major consideration in a choice of colleges, long before baseball came into the picture,” Spaulding said. “I’m planning to study engineering, but that could change.”

In the meantime, Spaulding is enjoying his newfound success and a rare league championship at Dana Hills. He claims this year’s team had to overcome a laid-back reputation to win the title.

“Dana Hills’ teams generally have this beach attitude,” he said. “They’re kicked-back and never get intense. This year was different. I think we’ll do pretty well in the playoffs. We beat four of the county’s top-10 teams (Sunny Hills, La Quinta, El Dorado and Santiago) in preseason.

“Right now, it’s a good feeling to be undefeated. But I also realize it could all end tomorrow.”